The election of Mauricio Macri to succeed Cristina Kirchner is likely to see
Argentina present a friendlier face

On West Falkland they weren't paying too much attention to the Argentine presidential election. "I've been that busy I haven't really been listening to the radio," said Sue Lowe, who runs the Port Howard Lodge, where the wing from a downed Argentine plane sits in the garden.

Two Argentine tourists stayed at the guest house last week but the 1982 war wasn't mentioned. "They were fine" said Mrs Lowe of her guests. She doesn't say anything about the war unless visitors get "funny".

For the last eight years Argentina's combative and charismatic President Cristina Kirchner has been more than a little "funny". Her pronouncements have drifted foghorn-like across from the mainland, whether it's calling the islanders "squatters" or threatening to prosecute British oil companies.

So it was with some glee that the political end of the "Botox Queen" was celebrated on social media after her favoured successor, Daniel Scioli, was defeated.

"Turn off the lights on your way out," wrote one Falkland Islander.

"Hopefully their new president will focus on their prosperity vs trying to ruin ours," said another.

Excited for the people of #Argentina. Hopefully their new President will focus on their prosperity vs trying to ruin ours. #Falklands

By contrast, the voice of Mauricio Macri, the conservative and business-friendly new president, promises to be a friendlier one. The general feeling on the Falklands seems to be one of cautious optimism.

"We hope this change in leadership will see a more constructive approach from the government of Argentina towards the Falkland Islands and its people," said Jan Cheek, Chair of the Falkland Island Legislative Assembly.

She hoped it would lead to "greater dialogue" with Argentina on issues like fisheries and sharing of environmental data.

Mr Macri himself said little to nothing about the Falkland Islands during the election campaign. It is a point of universal agreement among Argentine politicians that "Las Malvinas" should not be British.

However, his opponents seized on comments he made two decades ago when he seemed less than sure about asserting Argentine sovereignty over the islands.

In 1997 he declared: “I never quite understood the sovereignty claims of such a big country as ours. We don't have a space problem. Malvinas will become an additional deficit for the country's accounts."

These days Mr Macri is committed to the principle of Argentine sovereignty, but the difference is one of tone. While Mrs Kirchner accused Britain of "militarising" the South Atlantic, and called David Cameron "ill-mannered", Mr Macri's team has spoken of "broadening" the "important" relationship with Britain.

Meanwhile, what his critics have called "savage capitalism" promises to turn Latin America's stagnating third largest economy into a powerhouse.

While the Peronists stifled trade Mr Macri intends to maximise Argentina's vast agricultural resources, scrapping grain taxes of 20 per cent of more, and abolishing the quota system imposed by Mrs Kirchner under which some farmers were only able to plant a third of what they wanted to.